Grand Canyon tree

Tree against the Grand Canyon

Having walked down into Grand Canyon along the South Kaibab trail to Cedar Ridge, I was struck by the beauty of this dried out dead old tree. I sat down in front of it, leaned against a railing and tried to get as deep as I possibly could for the shot. As I framed it, I thought about getting low, about lining up the buttes with the branches, but not much else.

Only afterwards, I've discovered more and more and more things about this picture that serendipity assisted in with the composition. The way the clouds line up with the top branch. The diagonal line from the root to the branch. The size of Grand Canyon, and the beautiful view of it behind the tree, and the tree up front as a core magnet for the viewer's gaze.

The picture really only says “Look at this beautiful tree and its beautiful setting!”, but it does so with a balanced composition that combines both foreground and background for all the parts of the picture.

It remains one of my very favorite pictures ever.

Old and new

Old and new

A single photo, embodying the changes of the past century (or so) of the American west. A mule driver in Grand Canyon, mounted on his mule, riding along the rails of the Santa Fe railroad, headed for the Santa Fe train approaching in the distance.

In this picture, compositional elements help out quite well in framing this message of contrast and change. 

The rail, responsible for movement along a prepared path, runs through the frame in parallel diagonal lines, signifying the change itself. 

Vertically, in the foreground, the rider, almost toppling in his pose.

In the background, in a solid, restful horizontal, the train.

And old and new connected by the dynamic line of the railway.

The thought in my mind when first I took the photo was the stark contrast between the train and the rider; by instinct, I framed the image so that all other components fell into place. Revisiting the picture, I see the message above, in addition to the neat contrast and framing I originally picked it for, and see it as a comparatively strong message.

[Lazy Week] Tree against the canyon

This is quite possibly my favourite picture of all times. It's an old, dead tree stump in Grand Canyon, on a plateau down on of the more famous canyon trails.